


Killer Smile

by BooksandKpop



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Assassin&Hacker, Eventual Fluff, Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, I'm sorry for this, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Unbeta'd, assassin!Chani, assassin!Juho, assassin!Youngbin, hacker!Hwiyoung, hacker!Inseong, rated for language, the Lee boys are only referenced vaguely sorry, writesf9 birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 10:29:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12604560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksandKpop/pseuds/BooksandKpop
Summary: “Perfect, a pair of assassins to take out a pair of hackers, this should be an interesting job for you guys.”or the Hacker and Assassin AU with a fluffy ending





	Killer Smile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ninetynineclouds (foggydays)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggydays/gifts).



> Min my darling the happiest of birthday's to you! I hope I have done your prompt justice and I really want to apologise for the word count...
> 
> See I started writing for this and I had 17 pages but they had only met once and it was turning into a weird murder-mystery kind of story, so I set it aside and started again...this one ended at 20 pages long...turns out I can't write drabbles?
> 
> I hope you have a wonderful day anyway!!! I actually have so many extra scenes and stories for this AU but I couldn't justify fitting them into this already colossal word count (including how the confrontation between Hwiyoung and Chani went down, what happened when they hacked Lee Enterprises (yes that is a nod to Jaeyoon and Dawon), who are Rowoon and Taeyang really and that time Juho made the rude businessman "disappear"...) soooo. ^_^

The clock was ticking, they only had thirty seconds before the backup firewall kicked in and removed him from the server. He didn’t need that long, not with his skills. Still seventeen seconds to go when he found the target code, piggybacked on the virus and cleared his tracks. He was out of there before the system even knew it had been hacked.

“Nice going Hwi, I like the redirect file you left in case anyone does go looking - very clever. Let’s wait and see how much damage your pet virus can cause before they realise something’s up.”

Hwiyoung beamed proudly and his mentor, he had only taken the young boy on about six months ago and yet the progress they made together was incredible. Inseong knew that the blonde was talented, when he found traces of his hacking in a business network he was trying to undermine, he recognised the skill straight away. So he took him on as an apprentice, offered him a safe place to stay and learn and in return he was finally able to open his side business. Cyber crime was a big problem in their new world of modern technology, every business who wanted to extend their reach was using public networks and servers, and so they were exposing themselves and all their details to the possibility of being hacked. And when they were eventually hacked they needed someone to come along and help clean up, make them less vulnerable to attacks in future. That was where Inseong’s business idea came about.

“I made the code a little more latent than previous ones so it has time to be spread to other computers on the network before activating. It will make the fallout bigger in the long run.”

The older of the two couldn’t help laugh at that, the kid had caught on very quickly to what his mentor’s other business was. Charging people to remove viruses that he had placed there to begin with. He had to be careful when he was starting off, every hacker has a certain signature and if any other computer guys were to look, they might pick up it. But with Hwiyoung doing the actual hacking, there was very little possibility of such a situation occurring. It was genius really, a legally established business benefiting from having illegal roots. 

“You did a brilliant job Hwi, if it takes them a few days to notice the virus it will make it harder in the long run to clean up. It also gives us a chance to do more scope on that new financial firm's set-up, what do you think? Feeling hungry?”

The shorter boy nodded eagerly, it had taken them almost two hours to get around the company's security without making too much noise, and after the adrenaline of succeeding he was starving. They put on light coats to combat the slight autumn chill and headed out into the city, Inseong knew his apprentice deserved a treat after his job well done, and it also gave them a chance to look around the new firm he had in mind. Lee Enterprises had just opened their brand new million dollar headquarters in the business district of Seoul, they were in charge of huge amounts of online money transfers and protecting bank details. If Inseong could get into their servers, he might be able to make a few changes to some of the codes and reroute small amounts to his own personal funds. Not to mention if he could wreak a bit of havoc while he was at it, all the more fun. 

The pair got coffee and sandwiches and sat in a little café right opposite the new building, and they watched. Hackers were not all reclusive hermits who spent all day hunched over computer screens, it was important for them to get out and learn about the physical security around companies before taking on the cyber kind. It’s what made Inseong the best in the business, and Hwiyoung was a quick learner. Between them, they were going to cause a lot of trouble.

\---

“Juho get your ass out here right now, and bring that devil spawn with you.”

The redhead groaned and dragged himself away from the desk he was sitting at, when Youngbin called in that tone it was never a good idea to keep him waiting. Picking up his partner from where he was curled up on the floor he carried him out of their shared room and into the main communal space. The kid stirred in his arms when the noise from the room started to get louder as they approached the centre. He was awake enough to stand by himself when they eventually reached Youngbin standing in the centre of the room, it seemed like the entire community had come out for this. Something important must have come up.

“Right, now that we have all of our top markers present, I won’t waste any more of your time. We have been given three new contracts, all from the same client. It’s some shady international company that has a bit of dirt on their hands that they need to be taken care of. One contract is for an ex-employee with a big mouth and bigger grudge, they want it quick and simple - no mess. Any takers?”

A few hands rose up, Youngbin looked at them all coldly before picking Yuto out of the crowd. The tall boy was relatively new but had a perfect record with clean kills. He was given the contract to go over and dismissed himself from the meeting.

“Alright next up, a reporter with too much information and is too nosey for his own good. It’s going to involve getting close enough to clear any incriminating data he might have on the client. Who wants in?”

Fewer hands this time, not many of them were fond of making contact with their targets but sometimes a job called for it. After a few seconds of deliberating Youngbin chose Sally, one of very few girls in their department but she was a force to be reckoned with. If the killing part of the job ever got too boring, she would make a fantastic honey-pot. She took her file and went back to her room to prepare, Juho almost felt sorry for her target.

“Right finally, this is a bit of a different one. Two targets in one contract, a pair of hackers with a bug planted in the company’s servers. It’s close contact again, they want to make sure the bug isn’t relaying data elsewhere and then they want them taken care of. Instructions say they’ll pay extra if the hackers can be made an example of for trying to get into the company. What do you think?”

No hands were raised, not only did they have to make contact but there were two targets to deal with and hackers at that. They weren’t soon going to forget what happened to the last assassin from their community who had taken a hacker contract. Beside Juho, his short friend seemed to finally have woken up fully and raised his hand. Before the older boy could respond Youngbin had called on them.

“Perfect, a pair of assassins to take out a pair of hackers, this should be an interesting job for you guys.”

The oldest among them walked down and thrust the manilla folder into Juho’s hands, he patted them both on the shoulder before dismissing the rest of the assembled group. As he walked back to their room, he heard others mumbling quiet “good luck”’s and blessings in their direction. Juho knew they were going to need them. He settled down at his desk again, the orange haired boy pulled up a seat beside him and they opened the basic information in the file.

Targets; Kim Inseong - 24  
Kim Hwiyoung - 18

Profession; Hacker

Deadline; December 21st

Juho groaned, only three months to complete the job. At least the basic pay for getting it done was decent, and the promise of a bonus for extra work was definitely tempting. They had a lot of research to do though before they could even think about starting this job. It was not going to be easy.

\---

“*Hacker voice* I’m in.”

Hwiyoung groaned out loud and rolled over to smack Inseong on the shoulder. The older male had gotten bored just sitting on the couch watching movies so he decided to do some hacking for fun on his laptop. A cursory glance at the screen told the blonde that his mentor had gotten into the traffic grid and was making the electronic billboards say things the certainly shouldn’t. He couldn’t help but chuckle, Inseong might be older and wiser than he was, but when he got bored he could act like a complete child. This was just one example, he was messing around with things that weren’t likely to get anyone hurt, but would still cause some chaos until it was fixed.

“Do you want to try doing some baby hacking Hwi? I have a few websites in mind to mess with but you should of course also avail of this wonderful opportunity.”

“I actually had an idea a few days ago I want to try out. The owner of the all-night laundromat yelled at me for using his wifi - but I mean it was an open network what was he expecting?” 

The taller of the two laughed, while he was using his talents to play some mindless pranks, his little protégé was thinking of childish revenge, and it was a brilliant idea. They threw around a few ideas but settled on redirecting all phone calls for the 24/7 pizza place and the Chinese restaurant to the laundromat number. Hwiyoung could only imagine how annoyed the guy was going to get when people kept calling him to place orders for food instead of laundry. It was getting pretty late, so deciding he really should play the responsible adult role for a change Inseong decided to send both of them to bed. They were going to start their basal level scanning of the Lee Enterprises security the next morning and would need a good night rest beforehand. 

Just as he had tucked the younger boy in and was getting into bed himself, a notification popped up on his desktop screen. He was a little confused, the only project they had running was the virus in the small time law firms server, and if Hwiyoung had written his virus code right - which he had no doubts about - then that wouldn’t start causing a fuss for another day or two at least. Doing a routine scan of the alert code he couldn’t see anything malicious about it and decided to open and see what it was. He thought it could have been a delayed ping on one of their finished projects from a month or two ago, or maybe someone had accidentally reactivated one of their monitoring viruses. The last thing he was expecting was it to be a search alert, someone had been looking for information on him, Hwiyoung and their company all in a thirty minute time frame, and they weren’t using any typical search engine. This alert had come from the deep web, Inseong had honestly forgotten about the alert he had created to monitor people searching for him. Before Hwiyoung had started to show enough skill to plant code by himself and they started up their business, Inseong had sold his services online for a hefty price. There was no need for that illegal money anymore, not when he was getting paid above board to fix problems he made, or could just pull a little extra out of certain accounts if he needed. Whoever had been looking for him, was not someone interested in his services, that was something Inseong knew for sure.

Checking that the younger boy was still sleeping, Inseong dove headfirst into the deep web once more, trawling for any hint that the person searching for him could have had a legitimate illegal reason. There was no sign of any requested activity on his account though, and since his cyber cleaning business was above ground it shouldn’t have needed to be searched for in this part of the web. The more he looked, his conviction that someone was looking for him as a person rather than hacker grew. Figuring whoever it was would probably try and search again, he set up a new more detailed search alert, this time accompanied by a tracer function. Next time, they weren’t going to get away from him. Closing down the page and putting up their backup firewall just in case, Inseong finally moved away from his screens and crawled into bed. He would just have to be extra careful for the next few days.

\---

It had taken a considerable amount of their supplied down payment to rent out the small one-bed apartment for the next three months, but it was within walking distance of their target’s building and had had a good view of the plaza where they usually took business meetings. Chani had complained the entire time it took them to make the rooms livable and unpack their few belongings, he really was just a petulant child at times. 

“You’re the one who volunteered us to take this contract, stop whining and help me set up this false back for the closet.”

They hadn’t brought a lot of gear with them to start with since the objective was to get close and wipe any stolen data just taking the targets out with a long-range sniper rifle wouldn’t do the trick. That didn’t mean they didn’t bring one, but Juho doubted they would get to use it. When everything was finally done, the older of the pair collapsed onto the futon on the floor, he wanted to just sleep for a few hours but they couldn’t afford to waste any time. If they wanted to get this assignment done as quickly as possible, there wouldn’t be much time for resting. A sharp kick to his shin had him hissing in pain, and he looked up to see his younger partner smirking sadistically at him.

“I’m hungry. There’s a small restaurant with outdoor seating at the edge of the square. Let’s get dinner, we can still see the plaza from there.”

He turned away and went to grab a jacket from the coat stand at the door. Juho sighed and pulled himself up, Chani was right, they needed to eat somewhere they could still stake out the open space. His stomach grumbled loudly as he was putting his wallet and phone into his pockets, and the younger boy laughed at him. In all honesty, he didn’t mind spending time with the kid, he was probably the closest thing to family Juho had, but living with him for the next three months without a break was really going to test his patience. They left they apartment and locked the door behind them, all three locks that is - you couldn’t blame them for being security conscious with the line of work they’re in.

As they waited for their meal to be brought out to them, Juho pulled out his phone and skimmed over what little information he had been able to find about their targets. It seemed that the older one, Inseong, used to sell his hacking services on the deep web for an extortionate amount. There were no complaints about his work though, so it must have been worth it, although his last job was recorded to be about five months previously. The Hwiyoung kid had less information, no profile to speak of but his name came up in conjunction with Inseong’s so he supposed that meant they worked together, he only appeared about six months ago himself. The business was puzzling though, there was no record of it coming up in the quick search he had done on the train into the city, but it had a verified four month old website when he searched Google. Obviously their targets were using their illegal skills to make some legal money, Juho couldn’t fault their logic. If he could just get one job big enough to start his own business, he would make a travel company that could act as a front for him taking bigger jobs further afield. Maybe before they took Inseong out, he could ask him how to go about setting up his own business. Chani snapped him out of his internal musing by kicking his shin - again.

“The guy with the brown hair entering the plaza from your two o’clock, is that one of our targets?”

If he hadn’t spent so much time working with the orange haired boy, he probably wouldn’t have deciphered any of that from the low mumbling, but fortunately three years of sharing projects with him had its advantages. Juho casually stretched his arms up and used the opportunity to glance where Chani had indicated, and he felt the breath get knocked out of his lungs. Sure he had seen a relatively clear photo of him, taken from a decent security camera outside their clients building, but seeing him in person was something else. His hair fell messily over his forehead and stopped just above his sharp feline eyes. He was wearing a simple blazer and jeans, but there was an air of confidence about him that made him seem untouchable. The casual way he walked into the square at sat on a bench facing the fountain, it was as if he had no cares in the world and was completely relaxed in the space around him. Juho felt inexplicably drawn to him, but was pulled from his thoughts when the waiter arrived with their food. It certainly wasn’t the same guy who took their order, he had been a ball of sunshine, but this guy was very tall and handsome - and very obviously had caught Juho staring at his target. Server guy - or Rowoon, if his name tag was to be believed, smiled at the red head and nodded towards Inseong sitting at the fountain.

“He’s a regular here, unlike yourselves. Couple months ago he started his own business with his cousin or something, they meet clients here. The kid claims it’s because of the calm atmosphere, but I think it’s actually because they don’t have an office to work from and they’re too lazy to walk much further from their apartment.”

Rowoon laughed and Chani politely chuckled too, and an accompanying kick under the table made Juho smile at the server and mutter his thanks. The tall man walked away still smiling, whether he knew it or not he had just confirmed all their suspicions about the target in a few seconds of casual conversation. Juho growled at his younger friend once they were alone again, but he pulled an innocent look on his face and there was nothing the older could do against it. They both tucked into their meals, Juho keeping a close eye on Inseong sitting in the square the entire time. He made a mental note to look into the history of the restaurant when they got back to their temporary home and make sure this wasn’t a set-up. If not, they could use it as an easy access point to contact their targets. And when the food was this good, he certainly wouldn’t complain if they had to come here regularly.

\---

Inseong glanced at his watch for the third time in ten minutes - seriously had it only been ten minutes? The guy he was supposed to be meeting from the shipping company they had bugged was now officially late. He usually had a pretty lenient meeting policy; clients contacted him because they had a problem, he arranged to meet them for a chat in this plaza, and if he thought it sounded like something he could fix (he knew he could, but it was better to leave them in the dark) then they could discuss a time for him to visit the company in person. And of course, discuss the rate of payment too, that was always a very important factor. But he had been sitting on this stupid stone bench in the chilly autumn evening for twenty minutes, and there was no sign of his client turning up. Frustrated, he called Hwiyoung to ask what was happening.

“Sorry I really have no clue. His car left the offices about forty-five minutes ago, turned onto the main street heading in the direction of the square, and then I lost him at the intersection outside Lee Enterprises. It seems like he just vanished.”

He threw his head back and groaned loudly into the quiet evening, of course, this had to happen to him on today of all days. Here he was sitting out in the open waiting for a client, not even two days after someone had been searching for him, and he didn’t even get to make a business deal out of it. His young friend was still on the phone so he held it back to his ear as he stood up.

“Alright Hwi, don’t worry about it. Just put an alert up in case his car shows up somewhere else and shut it down for now. We’ll send them an email when I get back. I’m going to order food to-go from Sensational Feeling, you want anything?”

Noting the blondes order he said goodbye and hung up. Putting his phone back in his pocket and righting his blazer he walked the short distance to the restaurant on the edge of the square, at least they’d get a good meal out of him being stood up. As he made his way toward the store, he noticed the two guys with oddly bright hair sitting outside. It struck him as a little odd, it was pretty chilly out and there was always plenty of seats indoors, why would they choose to sit in the cold? They weren’t anyone he recognised either, most of the people living in the surrounding apartments were middle-aged families or old folks, and none of them would willingly walk around with hair the colour of a tangerine. Although he had to admit, the taller redhead looked good in his chosen colour. Realising they probably knew he was staring, Inseong felt a little embarrassed, so he nodded politely to them as he passed on his way inside. And if he noticed the cute redhead choking a little on his water, it might have just made him smirk.

“Hey, there’s my favourite customer. What can I get for you on this brisk autumn evening Inseong?”

“One order of the usual for myself please Taeyang, and some of your special carbonara pasta for Hwi. To-go if that’s not too much bother.”

“Of course not! Rowoon is just in the kitchen I’ll make sure he knows it’s for you! The total will be 23 dollars and it’ll just take fifteen minutes.”

Inseong smiled at the boy behind the till as he payed, his hair was back to a kind of pale blonde colour. It had been some time since he had seen him with his natural black, although the sparkly mermaid blue from a few months ago was still pretty impressive in Inseong’s mind. He had been coming to Sensational Feeling at least once a week since he moved to this part of the city over a year ago, before he met Hwiyoung and was doing shady deals for anyone who would pay. Taeyang and Rowoon co-owned the restaurant, although they claimed there was a hidden third party investor that helped payed their overheads. It didn’t really matter to him in any case, the food was good and the service was fantastic, he was pretty sure Hwiyoung had a small crush for the sunshine behind the counter when he first started learning from Inseong. It had passed though, they would consider themselves as good friends now. While he waited his mind was drawn back to the two guys sitting outside eating their food, it really was odd they chose those tables when the warmth and atmosphere inside the building was very cosy. He looked out the front window to see them in what looked to be a very serious discussion, although he couldn’t hear a word they said. A hand on his shoulder made him jump and whip his head away.

“Calm down there jumpy, it’s just me.”

Rowoon was standing beside him with a carry bag full of delicious smelling food in hand, had it been fifteen minutes already? He must have dozed off in the comfortable heat after sitting outside in the cold for so long. Inseong stood up and gratefully took the bag from his tall friend's hands, and smiled widely at him. The black haired male nodded his head towards the window and smirked slightly.

“They’re new here, just moved in today. Obviously taking the time to get to know the area. The taller one with the red hair was staring at you earlier when you were waiting for your meeting. I’m going to guess your guy didn’t show up?”

The fact that the cute guy had been staring at him came as a bit of a shock to Inseong, and it must have shown on his face because Rowoon started laughing again and Taeyang joined in too. His friend patted him on the back and pushed him toward the door with a smile, he would have to get the younger man back for this disrespect.

“Say hi to baby Hwi for me, won’t you? Tell him to call around sometime, Taeyang misses having someone to gripe to that will actually listen.”

Inseong rolled his eyes and Taeyang shouted insults at the other male’s back. They acted like true siblings and it was always entertaining to watch their interactions. He took the hint though and just agreed to send his own young friend over soon. Laughing he waved back to the pair as he exited the shop with food in hand. His smile didn’t falter as he greeted the two bright-haired guys still sitting outside, although it seemed like they were just getting ready to leave. There was something about the look in the redhead’s eyes and Rowoon’s words ringing in his ears that made him stop walking just as he was about to pass their table. Despite a strange knotted feeling in his stomach and his brain buzzing with warning, he turned back to look at the pair. They had stood up, and Inseong now noticed the redhead was only barely shorter than him, and his skin was glowing golden in the last of the evening light. For a split second he forgot what he was doing, but his hand automatically extended out towards the man and words that had yet to register in his brain were falling from his lips.

“Rowoon tells me you’re new to the area. My name is Inseong, it’s nice to meet you.”

Alarm bells were sounding in his head, why did he just give his name out to a total stranger? He could be anyone, this wasn’t safe this wasn’t right he should just turn on his heel and walk away right now and nev-

“My name is Juho, it’s nice to meet you too. Thank you for welcoming us.”

A voice deep as rolling thunder met his ears and the man’s cool hand slipped into his own to shake it. The knot in his stomach just got a whole lot tighter, but at least the ringing in his head had been silenced by the rich, velvety voice. 

“This is my younger cousin Chani. We’ve just moved up for a few months while our families sort out some stuff back home.”

The hand pulled away from his own and Inseong let it slip, he turned towards the shorter boy with the orange hair and smiled gently. He seemed to be assessing Inseong with his dead-eye stare, but oddly enough that didn’t phase him, he had met with enough shady characters in his past to know when someone was looking to hurt you. Right now, the young kid was analysing him, a hint of guarded protectiveness in his look. Understandable he supposed, if a random stranger walked up to him when he was having dinner with Hwiyoung he would be testy too. Before he could register, his mouth was moving again, now looking back at Juho.

“I hope you guys like it here. My younger cousin moved in with me about six months ago to study here, but I’ve been here for a little longer. I’m sure you’ll find your way around in no time. Sensational Feeling is the best restaurant in the area though, you can take my word for it!”

Juho was laughing now, a low rumbling from the back of his throat. Inseong felt himself blush slightly, why was he blushing? They locked eyes and for a split second Inseong thought he saw a predatory glint in the other man’s eye, but it was gone as quick as it came and he couldn’t determine if it had really been there at all.

“Thanks for the advice, I’ll trust what you say. Don’t you want to get home before your food gets cold? I doubt your cousin would much appreciate that.”

There was a slightly mocking tone in Juho’s voice, it felt like he was being admonished like a naughty schoolboy. Inseong’s brain kicked into top gear at that. He was certain that this punk standing in front of him was younger, he wasn’t about to let himself be put down in that way. Fortunately, witty comebacks came easily to him, especially when under pressure. Letting his confidence from years of experience working with criminals and businessmen alike radiate out, he subtly raised himself up to make the small height difference more apparent. At the sudden change in his demeanour, he saw confusion flash across Juho’s eyes. Inseong smirked down at him, not rudely, but enough to put him in his place. 

“No, he definitely wouldn’t appreciate cold food. But he would appreciate it even less if he found out I was consorting with two-thirds of a traffic light. See you around Juho.”

He turned on his heel and threw a wink over his shoulder as he walked away, he caught the briefest glance of a blush spreading across Juho’s cheeks and he spluttered to form a response. But Inseong wasn’t going to hang around in the chilly night air any longer, he especially didn’t want to risk being one-upped by the cute guy with piercing eyes and a voice that made his insides twist. So as soon as he was a safe distance from the plaza he broke into a jog in order to get home quicker, and he hoped he wasn’t going to bump into the redhead more than necessary.

\---

Over the following month, Juho ran into Inseong a total of twenty times, not counting their first encounter outside Sensational Feeling. Nine of those times he had Hwiyoung with him, and once Juho met Hwiyoung by himself. Chani had a similar number of encounters with their targets, although he met Hwiyoung a few more times than the older of the pair had. Anyone else in their line of work would have called their preliminary stages a brilliant success, integrating themselves into the routine of their targets and making good connections. Juho however just felt increasingly sick every time they spoke. There was a reason he avoided personal contact jobs, despite his cold exterior he did have quite a gentle persona, and he was finding it very difficult not to become attached to the older brunette. After the first night, when Inseong had brushed them off with his confidence and teasing in his voice, their interactions became more civil, even turning to friendly. This was not part of the plan, he had to keep his emotions in check and remain impersonal, it was the only way he could complete the job. 

Chani was having a similar dilemma to his older partner, only it was Hwiyoung he was struggling to stay detached from. The older boy had such a seemingly innocent charm, but with a wicked streak underlying it, and it was driving him mad. Every time he saw him, the taller of the pair greeted him with some new insult and a smirk, and Chani would reply with an equally scathing comment in a monotone voice. They poked and prodded at each other’s pride and ego, but it was all in good fun, neither ever went home upset with anything that had been said. Which was becoming a problem, because how was he supposed to take out this guy who had a stupid high pitched laugh and was the only person he had ever met to match his dark humour? There was literally nothing to dislike about him, and thinking like that meant it was making him feel uneasy whenever his brain reminded him of the reason they were making this personal contact. 

As Juho sat at the fountain in the plaza one day waiting for Inseong to appear with his stupid coffee and his stupid smile and possibly wearing his stupid glasses, he thought about what he was really doing. This was a job, their objectives were to find the information possibly retrieved from their clients servers, and then take out the target. Only, the target had a name and a face, and studied in England for a year, and loved cats, and was a beautiful singer and cared for Hwiyoung like he was actually his family. And he made Juho laugh with stupid jokes, and laughed back at his own awful puns, and paid for his lunch one day when he realised Chani had taken the last of the cash from his wallet. The line between what he was willing to do for his job to get paid had become a little blurry whenever Inseong was around. Was he really going to throw away everything he had done in his life, all the jobs and the sneaking around and the high risks for low rewards, just for some guy - a supposed target nonetheless. Surely not - and yet when he saw Inseong crossing the square towards him holding not one but two coffees, and he was beaming his sunshine smile and wearing his cute glasses, Juho didn’t think he could go through with it. And that was a big problem.

He made space on the bench beside him for the older to sit down next to him, very close. Juho thanked him for the coffee and held it in his hands to warm his fingers up, the weather had gotten much colder, it was getting closer to winter - closer to his deadline. The redhead shivered at the thought, but Inseong must have assumed it was from the cold.

“You know you should really start wearing warmer clothes if you’re going to be sitting outside in this weather. A heavier jacket or even a hat would take a bit of the chill out of the air. Although, I suppose a hat isn’t going to help cover all those holes in your jeans.”

Inseong was teasing him again, most of the time they exchanged playful banter and only once or twice since that first night had Juho managed to make him flustered. That never faltering confidence was admirable, but he wasn’t cocky or arrogant because of it, and that made Juho’s stomach do flips. It also didn’t help when the brunette flashed a blinding grin his direction that made his heart speed up and his chest feel tight. Just as he was going to brush off the condescending remarks about his choice of dress, the older moved to sit even closer, their thighs fully pressing up against one another and he threw an arm over his shoulder. For a second, the shorter male thought he was going to stop breathing and pass out. Inseong leaned right up to his ear and whispered, hot breath making goosebumps rise on his skin.

“Should we get out of the cold Juho? I have somewhere in mind.”

His brain short-circuited, there was no way he imagined the tone of voice the older had just used. Looking straight up into his face, he saw a gleam of something unknown in his eyes, but it was quickly hidden by the glare of the sun on his glasses. He must have nodded, or made some form of affirming noise or gesture because Inseong was grinning like a Cheshire cat and stood up fast, pulling Juho up with him by the shoulders. They started walking out of the square, away from the safety of the public eye, in the direction that Juho knew the older man’s apartment was. This was not happening, very much not happening, he couldn’t let this go any further. As frantically as his brain tried to make him pull away from the other’s grasp, his muscles refused to comply. Instead he just meekly followed Inseong down the peaceful side-streets towards certain trouble. There was no outcome Juho could think of where this ended well, but he still couldn’t bring himself to pull away from the warm embrace he found himself wrapped in.

\---

It took all of four days after that first encounter and two more meetings with the mysterious Juho for Inseong to put everything together. Hwiyoung had met Chani once, and he knew right off the bat that there was something odd about the whole situation. And once Inseong received another alert from his search monitor on the deep web, he was able to trace it back to an apartment in their area. One quick search around the housing estates personal transactions and he found the name the apartment was leased to. Baek Juho. Three hours later with Hwiyoung’s help, he had traced the money used to pay for the apartment to a relatively small international business they had planted a bug in about a month prior. Between them, they came up with the most likely possible events.

“Ok, just to go on record and say it all out, because it’s the only way I think I can get my head fully around this. Some shitty business that we bugged because we were bored and their security was crap, is actually a front from some shady dealings and they thought we were stealing information from them when in actual fact the bug had no recorder storage and was just there for the sake of it. And they’re assholes who think we have details on their illegal shit so they hired two hitmen to come take us out. And these hitmen are trying to be friends with us because obviously they have been told to find out what kind of information we stole even though we literally couldn’t give a fuck and didn’t even know they were shady to begin with?”

“Well, first of all, watch your language you are still a child. But yeah, that’s pretty much what I think, except Juho and Chani are probably assassins and not hitmen because if they were hitmen we would be dead already.”

Understandably, Hwiyoung had thrown himself face first onto the bed and screamed into his pillow for a solid twenty seconds. Equally as understandable was his vow to completely shut Chani out and avoid him at all costs. Inseong however, had a much better idea. 

“We need to find out what their plan of action is. Obviously, if the company we hacked wanted us gone straight away it would have happened already, but they must have given our would-be assassins some sort of deadline to take us out by, right? So, what if we let them get close, become their friends and see what kind of information we can get out of them? Keep your mouth shut about the hacking, don’t let them know we’re onto them. Maybe there’s a way we can teach this dumbass company a lesson not to mess with us.”

But no matter how hard Inseong teased Juho, and despite all of Hwiyoung’s prying and slander, neither of the assassins showed any indication of trying to kill them. In fact they didn’t even try to get the hackers to talk about their work or what they did. It was just friendly fun, meeting for coffee and a chat on the older pairs part, or going into the city and criticising everyone who walked past for their clothes or hair or face. Inseong had to keep reminding himself that they had concrete proof that Juho and Chani had been hired to get rid of them, because with every meeting and every shy smile, it was harder to see what their plan could be. But after the last of the autumn months passed and winter was quickly approaching, the brunette got tired of playing games, he found himself enjoying Juho’s company for the sheer pleasure of it, and it wasn’t doing his heart any good to think that at any minute it was possible the cute boy with red hair could end his life. So he decided he was going to get solid information from the man who was starting to run away with his feelings, by any means necessary.

\---

He kind of lost track of the time it took to get to Inseong’s apartment and in the door. He vaguely remembers taking his shoes and light jacket off, but the fog in his head has finally cleared and Inseong is back to sitting too close and his coffee is missing but his hands aren’t cold because the inside of the room is quite toasty. Turning his head slowly, as if trying not to break the illusion he was under, he looked right into Inseong’s eyes, no longer hidden by his glasses. Juho swallowed hard around the lump that had formed in his throat and there was only one thought running through his mind. ‘You’re not going to complete this contract.’ The brunette must have sensed a shift in his mindset because there was a waiver in his confident air, and the next breath he took came out a little shaky. 

“Juho, there’s something I need to ask you. I want you to answer me honestly and in return, I’ll give you an honest response too.”

This was the most serious he had ever seen the older man, even when a meeting with some businessman had gone completely bottoms up leaving the brunette with a black eye and broken phone he had kept his cheerful personality. Even the time that Hwiyoung had contracted an extremely dangerous virus and had to spend two nights in the hospital he stayed bright and positive, he was strong and fun, so this was more than a little scary. Juho felt his chest tighten in a different way than it usually did when he spent time with Inseong, this felt a lot more like panic.

“You can ask me anything, I promise I won’t lie to you.”

It was a struggle to choke out those words, they were so honest. He was laying himself completely bare to a man he had been hired to kill, but instead, he found himself falling a little bit in love. The redhead’s response seemed to strengthen Inseong’s resolve to ask whatever question he had in mind, and he sucked in a deep breath before staring right into Juho’s eyes. He stared right back, holding the taller male’s gaze fearlessly, whatever happened now he had made up his mind. The contract was not worth it. 

“Were you hired to kill me?”

It was phrased like a question, but there was no doubt in Inseong’s voice when he asked. Juho felt his chest squeeze impossibly tighter and his throat closed up. Suddenly his head was swimming and his vision was blurry and he couldn’t breathe. A ringing started in his ears, it sounded like sirens growing closer and closer, how did he know? How did he find out? This was the end, Juho had been ready to leave everything behind and start from scratch to keep Inseong in his life, how could he do that when the older male knew what he was. An assassin, a murderer, a monster. The thoughts crowded in his head, all crying out and clambering for attention, but one came to the forefront. He had to run, he had to get away from Inseong before he tainted him, before he hurt him. 

Juho tried to get his legs to stand and propel him from the room, but there was something solid holding him down. He flailed limbs trying to free himself - he had to get out of there, he couldn’t stay. No matter how hard he fought, there was a strong force preventing him from moving, everything felt too hot, too close. Then there was something cool and damp on his head, and a soothing sound close to his ear. All the fight in his muscles seeped away, he went limp. It took a few moments for his vision to clear, and he came back to all of his senses. When he did, he immediately tried to get away again, the position he was in making him feel a different kind of heat.

Inseong had panicked when Juho started freaking out, he hadn’t meant for the simple question to cause such a reaction. The younger man was trying to stand and leave, there was a glassy look in his eyes and he was struggling to catch his breath. So he did the only thing he could think of, he wrapped his arms around Juho’s torso and held him down with all his might, and when he started struggling Inseong pushed him to lie back against the cushions and sat on top of him. He pinned his arms above his head with one hand and used his own legs to hold down the younger boys. The male under him was sweating profusely and going a shade of red that rivaled his hair. All the brunette could think to do was calm him down somehow, and keep him cool. He grabbed the dishcloth that had been sitting on the coffee table, it was still a little wet from when he was cleaning everything down earlier. Using his free hand he placed it on Juho’s forehead and leaned down to whisper soothing words into his ear. Surely enough after a few seconds he slowly stopped struggling and went limp against the couch. As his eyes became more focussed Inseong looked down at him and realised - he had been hoping he was wrong. He was desperately hoping they had made a mistake and Juho was just a new neighbour who wanted to get to know him, but with the reaction he just had, there was no room left for doubt.

“Why are you sitting on top of me like this? Why is my head wet?”

Of course, he had to be stubborn and point out the situation they were in, Inseong quickly flushed scarlet after taking in exactly what he was doing and sat up releasing the other's hands. He didn’t move off his torso though, there was no way he was going to let Juho get up and run away without answering him.

“I asked you a question and you started having a panic attack, or a breakdown, I’m not sure what but it was scary. This was the only way I could stop you from moving. And I won’t get off you until you answer me.”

There was a steely undertone in his voice, audible even under the many layers of shock and concern. Juho knew there was no way he could escape this now. He just had to submit to his fate, Inseong was never going to look at him the same way, or the way he had hoped he would in future. Sucking in a deep breath to fill his lungs and dispel the shaking in his muscles, he admitted the truth.

“Yes. Myself and Chani were given a contract with you and Hwiyoung as the targets. I’m an assassin by trade, you were supposed to be my next job.”

“Supposed to be? What do you mean by that? If you were sent to take us out then why haven’t you done it yet, we’ve known each other for over a month.”

“Well, there are actually two reasons for that. The contract indicated that you were in possession of information stolen from our client, and it was the kind of information they couldn’t have in anyone’s hands. We were instructed to find the information and destroy it before we took our mark. And then, umm - ”

He started to say something else, before he began blushing and choked on his words. Inseong was confused by this, the redhead had just openly confessed to being a contract killer and that he was his next job, but whatever the other reason for not having taken him out yet seemed to be harder for him to admit. Even more confusing was the fact that he didn’t feel like he thought he would upon hearing this confirmation. Surely he should be feeling disgust or horror at the admission, Juho had knowingly and willingly taken people’s lives for money. He supposed there was that feeling there, but it was minor in comparison to the feeling of worry. Why the hell was he worried for him? Before he could consider his own feelings any further, Juho moved to sit up on the couch with Inseong still in his lap and placed his hands on the brunettes hips. He felt his face heat up at the change in position, he was a lot less in control of the situation now than he had been a second ago. The redhead opened his mouth to speak once more, but as he did the wet dishcloth slid down from his forehead and got caught on his nose and a corner went into his open mouth. Despite the total serious atmosphere and tense air between them, Inseong burst into laughter at the ridiculous sight of the male spluttering and coughing in shock and trying to pull the offending object from his face.

“The terrifying killer Baek Juho, oh no whatever will I do. You look like a kicked puppy right now.”

It was certainly the truth, the tips of his fringe were stuck to his wet forehead, and there was a strand of the cloth stuck in the corner of his mouth. Even knowing what the other man was, and the terrible things he did for a living, Inseong couldn’t stop himself smiling and reaching forwards to remove the string from his face, although he did catch himself before he could push back the red hair from his forehead. The atmosphere went serious again, and the pair stared into each other’s eyes. Juho put his hands back on Inseong’s hips and swallowed hard, he wasn’t going to let this moment pass without laying out the complete truth.

“This is me not lying to you remember. So, the other reason that I haven’t completed the contract is - well, I umm - I don’t want to. In fact, I can’t. You - you’re too good for me, you don’t deserve this. You love cute animals and volunteer to sing for kids and old people. You buy people food and coffee even when they insist they don’t want you to. You take care of people, maybe not in obvious ways but you do. And you - you don’t hurt people, not like I do. You’re handsome and generous and funny and I - I like you a lot. So I can’t finish this contract because no amount of money would be worth removing your light from this world.”

Despite the several stumbles and stutters in his confession and the cheesy stupidity of some of the things he said, he had told Inseong the whole truth, just like he promised. It was a weight off his chest to admit all those things out loud, to confirm to himself that there was still something he wouldn’t do, not for any sizeable payment. But he knew that it wasn’t going to mean anything. He was still a monster, a killer - there was no redemption for him in anyone’s eyes, especially not someone as good as Inseong. A hand brushed across his cheek to wipe away tears. Tears? Juho hadn’t even realised he had been crying. 

“I know sorry isn’t exactly something I can say to you right now, but I do mean it. I’m sorry for wasting your time getting to know me, I’m sorry that you ever had to meet someone as monstrous as me. I’ll leave now, and I promise I won’t come back. You should probably move away from here though, maybe change your name, in case the client sends someone else after you. My deadline was the winter solstice, so you have until then I suppose. I’m sorry Inseong.”

The tears were falling harder now, and he was trying not to sob as he pushed through his speech. He never had a chance with the gorgeous brunette, he should have never gotten so attached, never gotten his hopes up. If Inseong would just let him go he could leave and never darken his life with his presence again. Hopefully, the warning he gave was enough to let the older man move on and live his life peacefully somewhere else, Juho sincerely hoped he would do that. He tried to push Inseong off him so he could go, but strong hands gripped his wrists and stopped him. 

“Juho, I need you to look at me right now.”

So he did, and what he saw made his heart break even more. Inseong was crying too, silent tears of unknown emotion streaming down his beautiful face. His eyes looked wider and brighter than ever before, and he was swallowing hard to try control his voice. One of his hands moved up to wipe away more of the tears that were falling from Juho’s eyes, and then held the side of his face with such tenderness it made his chest ache. 

“You have done awful things, you have killed people and been paid for it. But I have done awful things and been paid for them too. Before I found Hwiyoung, before I set up my cover business, I sold myself out to anyone who would buy my services. Maybe I didn’t directly end any lives, but the things I did certainly resulted in deaths. Innocent deaths. But I convinced myself that it was out of necessity. I had no family, no money, nothing but my skills with a computer. I don’t know what your circumstances are or were, but I understand that when you get into something at first, it can be impossible to get out of. But you always have a choice.”

“When I started doing this, it was kill or be killed. I found I was good with a knife, good with my hands. And I could be quick and quiet and get away without anyone noticing I was there. A gang picked me up, used me to do their dirty work in return for food and shelter. After a while, I figured that a human life was worth more than just basic needs. I left, found a community of people like me. They offered the basic things I needed for no cost and gave me the opportunity to make money for myself. It’s all I can do, and it’s the only life Chani has ever known. Even if I made enough money to support myself, I couldn’t leave him behind. So I stayed, and I thought I would be stuck forever. But after I met you, I can’t go back to that. I can’t return to the dark after seeing where you stand in the light. You deserve better though, I can’t stay with you.”

He just didn’t get it, Juho couldn’t see that underneath there were the same principles. Inseong could tell the man sitting under him was not a monster, he had just done dark things to survive. The thought of the redhead leaving his life without a trace caused a sense of panic to build up inside. For a month now - was it really only a month - Inseong had known why Juho was there, why he was talking to him, and he suspected what things he could have done in the past. But that didn’t stop his feelings growing for the younger male anyway, it didn’t make the butterflies dissolve or his heart stop speeding up whenever they saw each other. The way Juho made him feel was new and that was scary, but seeing him beat himself up over his past crimes and try to push Inseong into the light, it broke his heart. He never wanted this man, this beautiful, dorky, sweet man he met to have to turn back to the darkness in case it swallowed up his heart. Before his brain could process what he was doing, he moved closer to Juho, only stopping himself a hair's breadth away from the other male's lips. 

“You always have a choice Juho, I’m asking you to make this one.”

If he was fully in control of his senses he would have pushed Inseong away, he would have thrown the other man off him and ran for the door never turning back. But he wasn’t thinking with his head, his entire body was under control of his heart. So he made the choice, the one that he knew if he stopped for a second to think would be the wrong one but he chose it anyway. Closing the last of the distance between them, Juho pressed his lips to Inseong’s. They tasted like salty tears and a lingering hint of coffee. The adrenaline kicking through his system shocked his brain into focus. He couldn’t do this, he was going to ruin the brunette’s life if he let this happen. Before he could pull away, Inseong pushed forward harder, meeting his kiss with intensity and passion. Juho lost his balance and fell backwards onto the couch again, and Inseong’s body followed him down. Deciding that if this would be the only chance he ever had to taste the light, he was going to make sure he remembered it.

They kissed hungrily as if it was their last chance to experience this feeling ever again. Juho felt like his whole body was on fire as he was trapped desperately between Inseong’s hot form and the couch beneath him. Inseong adjusted his hips slightly to make himself more comfortable before taking control of the kiss and leaving Juho whimpering softly into his mouth. He tried to put across every ounce of emotion he was feeling into their contact, he didn’t care what Juho had done before he just needed him to stay and be with him. There was desperation in the kiss too, Inseong grabbed fistfuls of soft red hair and Juho gripped hips so hard he was sure there would be bruises by morning. Neither cared less about their haphazard state as they got lost further and further in the haze of overwhelming emotion, they were so lost in their bid for dominance they didn’t hear the door to the apartment opening or two sets of footsteps walking in. What they did hear though were Hwiyoung’s dolphin screech and Chani’s obnoxious retching noises. 

“When you told me to ‘go bring Chani to the park to talk’ I was like ‘sure that’s a great idea good thinking Inseong’. I now realise you just wanted me to get out of the apartment so you could do this and now I think I need to go bleach my eyes.”

Chani snorted at Hwiyoung’s totally serious deadpan monologue and just rolled his eyes when Juho started to stutter about it not being what it looked like. Inseong glared down at him, there was no way that their two teenage friends were ever going to believe an excuse as ridiculously see-through as that. Instead, the brunette sat up and tried to discreetly dry his face before fixing Hwiyoung with the best adult look he could muster.

“I assume you did actually talk about the situation when you made it to the park, yes?”

It would have been the perfect sly remark had Inseong’s voice not come out a little hoarse from the crying he had just done. As it was he sounded kind of hungover and Hwiyoung raised an eyebrow incredulously. He looked at Chani who was glaring daggers at Juho who had cautiously sat up again, and then back to Inseong. Then a shy smile graced his features as he nodded.

“Yeah, we talked. And it’s cool, Chani said he wasn’t actually going to try to kill me anytime soon.”

At the soft edge to his voice, the youngest there turned his head towards the blonde, just for a moment, there was a look of innocent adoration in his eyes before he closed up again and punched Hwiyoung lightly in the arm.

“Of course I wasn’t going to kill you, dummy, you’re the only one who could possibly keep up with my sense of humour. And I’m extra glad now because if you weren’t around I might have to deal with Juho and Inseong being a disgusting couple all by myself.”

Juho threw his head back with mirth and laughed, even when he was being sappy and emotional he still managed to make himself sound like he didn’t give a shit. But the fact that he had kept the insult to ‘dummy’ told the redhead all he needed to know about his feelings. Inseong was looking at him with care and promise in his eyes, and Juho felt his heart swell in a good way for a change.

“Are we a couple Juho? Our ‘cousins’ seem to think so.”

He was back to the playful teasing personality that Juho had grown so fond of over the last month, and he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. He nodded firmly once, before joining one of his hands with Inseong’s. So what if he came from darkness, right now this was him taking the first baby step towards the light. And if Inseong would stay by his side and hold his hand, he figured everything would be ok.

 

\---

Inseong was woken up by a warm hand rubbing circles gently on his lower back. It took him a minute to gather enough energy to roll over towards the sensation. He was greeted by a softly smiling Juho lying beside him and looking at him with all the care in the world. 

“Morning princess, how do you feel this morning?”

“Sore you ass, that is probably the stupidest question you have ever asked me.”

The man beside him grinned mischievously and instead of answering just leaned down to kiss the older male slowly. Inseong felt a fluttering in his stomach and broke the kiss before it could get any stronger. 

“Ok, are you going to tell me what the special occasion is or what? Don’t even try to deny it, am I missing something? What day is today?”

“It’s the winter solstice, which means that today is the last day I have to kill you before my contract expires.”

They both laughed at that, it had only been two months since they started their plan of escape and it had so far gone off without a hitch. Another attempt at hacking into the ‘client’s’ servers and a particularly malicious piece of code had toppled the company entirely, with all their dirty money laundered through Lee Enterprises and straight into a new joined bank account for the couple. Today was the day that Juho and Chani would hear from their head contact Youngbin to either confirm completion of the job or withdrawal from the line of work. But Inseong got the feeling it wouldn’t exactly be shocking news. He rolled onto his back and stretched out his limbs, enjoying the slight ache in his muscles. The pair got out of bed and dressed comfortably before heading down to the kitchen. The younger couple were already up, arguing over something as usual.

“Listen brat, just because you think it’s fun doesn’t mean I do. Try it again and see what happens.”

“I am a born killer my dude, you really think you could take me.”

Juho snorted at the exchange and threatened them both with kisses if they didn’t behave. It was enough to make them slink off together muttering curses under their breath. The two of them had an odd sort of relationship, but it worked for them and made them happy, which was all that really mattered. As the older couple sat in the kitchen eating a simple breakfast, both were struck with an overwhelming feeling of contentment. It was startling and yet calming at the same time. And when they locked eyes and smiled gently at one another, they both knew there was only one thing that really mattered.

“I love you.”


End file.
